The ability to be able to control one's lights remotely using a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device is a relatively new phenomenon that will become more commonplace as the smart home or smart office concept is embraced by more appliance and device manufacturers. Such control can include the ability to remotely dim one or more lights within a person's home or office, turn on or off such lights, or even schedule such actions for certain times of the day or night. These devices often fall into three general categories including wirelessly connected lightbulbs, outlets, and light switches. However, all such devices are beset with shortcomings that have heretofore not been addressed by the makers of such devices.
For example, wirelessly connected lightbulbs or smart lightbulbs, such as the Philips Hue™ lightbulbs, often require the user to purchase an expensive bridge or hub device in order to connect such bulbs to the user's wireless local area network (WLAN). Moreover, each smart lightbulb is often three or four times the price of an equivalent lightbulb that does not possess such wireless connectivity. Furthermore, many users have complained that such smart lightbulbs are prone to flickering or producing a buzzing noise compared to regular lightbulbs.
Wirelessly connected light-dimming wall outlets, such as the GE Plug-In Smart Dimmer™, also require the user to purchase an expensive hub device in order to connect such outlets to the user's WLAN. Moreover, light-dimming wall outlets often lose their wireless connection to the hub device, which requires the user to manually reset the wall outlet and provision the outlet once again. In addition, such light-dimming wall outlets can only be used with tabletop or floor lights that have an electrical cord. Furthermore, many users have complained that lights plugged into such light-dimming wall outlets tend to also flicker or produce a buzzing noise compared to lights not plugged into such outlets.
While certain wirelessly connected dimmer switches, such as the WeMo™ Dimmer Light Switch by Belkin International, Inc., do not require an additional hub device to connect to a user's WLAN, such dimmer switches are difficult to install and may require the user to hire a trained professional to replace the user's current light switch with the wirelessly connected dimmer switch. Moreover, such dimmer switches often lose their connection to the user's WLAN, resulting in the user having to physically reset the dimmer switch or re-provision the dimmer switch.
Therefore, an improved light dimming solution is needed which addresses the challenges faced by current light controlling devices. In addition, such a solution should provide added security benefits and work well with all types of light fixtures and corded lights. Moreover, such a solution should not be overly complex and cost-effective to manufacture.